The Canoldir Male Choir St George's Church Kidderminster

The Canoldir choir is not a patch on our own Kidderminster Male Choir, but they entertained with a variety of music while unfortunately suffering from the same problem as many other male choirs - not enough tenors.

My favourite of the female barber shop quartet Bel Canto was a very clever arrangement of Paul McCartney's frog song We All Stand Together, but we also heard Blue Moon and Bare Necessities.

14-year-old James Greenwood gave a competent and extremely confident performance of the Pathetique Sonata Rondo by Beethoven, and town organist Tim Morris played Grand Choeur in D by Alexandre Guilmant with his usual flair.

Russell Painter again delighted his audience with a selection of opera and operetta, and included Hugh's Song of the Road by Vaughan Williams, which I had never heard before, but hope to hear again. For me, the highlight of his section was Je Crois Entendre Encore from Pearl Fishers by Bizet, which he sings so beautifully, sending shivers down my spine.

We all joined in the final items Cwm Rhondda and the Welsh National Anthem - in Welsh!

This was a good "first" for St George's concert committee.

VJS

The Keith Barrett Show Live

Wulfrun Hall

Wolverhampton

WHEN your jaw begins to ache it lets you know that something is, genuinely funny.

Such was the effect Rob Brydon - as his earnest yet hapless alter ego, Keith Barrett - had during just under two hours with the transfer of the offbeat chat show to the stage.

Beginning as what our Welsh comic host described as a talk titled Making Divorce Work, fans of the tragic-comedy Marion and Geoff knew, broadly, what they were in for.

What they were not to know - or indeed was Brydon - were what tangents the live version, with its audience involvement, would take. It is hard to convey how Brydon, as Barrett, can wring quite so much humour from suicide statistics during his illustrated presentation opening.

Amid the almost non-stop laughter, there is some lacerating comedy in there - the kind that teeters on the verge of spite. It is edgy stuff but delivered so deftly that you are hardly aware quite how near the emotional knuckle it is.

This type of show is a far cry from traditional stand-up in format but Brydon does employ the skills of the stand-up.

The show ends with a couple invited on stage to be interviewed about their relationship. These kind of moments could be cringingly embarrassing.

Thanks to Brydon's control of the situation, however, it remains mainly mildly embarrassing for the couple but hilarious for the rest of us.

PM

The Canoldir Male Choir

St George's Church

Kidderminster

WE were well entertained on Saturday, when the Canoldir Male Choir sang a varied selection, including March of the Peers from Iolanthe, Yesterday and It's a Working Man I Am with an excellent solo sung by Joseph Flynn. Their best performance of the evening was in This is the Moment from Jekyll and Hyde.

The Canoldir choir is not a patch on our own Kidderminster Male Choir, but they entertained with a variety of music while unfortunately suffering from the same problem as many other male choirs - not enough tenors.

My favourite of the female barber shop quartet Bel Canto was a very clever arrangement of Paul McCartney's frog song We All Stand Together, but we also heard Blue Moon and Bare Necessities.

14-year-old James Greenwood gave a competent and extremely confident performance of the Pathetique Sonata Rondo by Beethoven, and town organist Tim Morris played Grand Choeur in D by Alexandre Guilmant with his usual flair.

Russell Painter again delighted his audience with a selection of opera and operetta, and included Hugh's Song of the Road by Vaughan Williams, which I had never heard before, but hope to hear again. For me, the highlight of his section was Je Crois Entendre Encore from Pearl Fishers by Bizet, which he sings so beautifully, sending shivers down my spine.

We all joined in the final items Cwm Rhondda and the Welsh National Anthem - in Welsh!

This was a good "first" for St George's concert committee.

VJS